Thermally fusible materials are known and have been employed in industry principally directed to pipe, cable and tube protection. These materials prove particularly useful in field operations involving cable or pipe on which repairs have been necessary. Environmental and corrosion protection of splices or other repairs to the conduit is necessary to maintain structural integrity. Self-amalgamating materials in the form of tape will provide such protection by forming a unitary protective layer over such repairs. An environmentally secure seal is established by wrapping a self-amalgamating tape around the affected area whereupon a unitary covering is achievable. Such a tape is composed of fusible butyl rubber; that is, a tape made from a butyl rubber material which has a capacity to fuse to itself at the overlap when wound on wire or cable, stretched to approximately double its original length, and upon application of heat, fuses or self-amalgamates at the overlap in approximately five minutes. Such products are available from such companies as Thomas & Betts and Nitto Electric Industrial Company, Ltd. of Japan.
Although satisfactory for use in ambient environments of restricted temperature range, most commercially available products do not function well at extreme temperatures and generally require heat application to effect amalgamation. For example, it has been found that diminution of certain desirable physical characteristics occur at high ambient temperatures. When employed in environments with temperatures approaching 40.degree.-50.degree. C. as in tropical or equatorial desert regions, many commercially available materials suffer a significant loss of tensile strength. Correspondingly, such products also suffer from considerably reduced self-amalgamation when subjected to procedures at temperatures much less than 0.degree. C. Particularly in the context of field applications in northern climates, this constitutes a serious operational restriction where cable splicing repairs may be necessary at temperatures approaching -20.degree. C.
Accordingly, what is needed is a material which has the capacity for self-amalgamation and possesses superior physical characteristics at low temperatures; namely, a short self-amalgamation time, high physical strength and a high percent of elongation. Furthermore, a material is desirable which does not require adjunct heating, particularly at low ambient temperatures. Moreover, when employed at low ambient temperatures, a product should not, unlike many commercially available products, become stiff and brittle, thereby leading to difficulties in field applications.